Display-rack.



W. T. HORMES.

DISPLAY RACK.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 1, 1915.

Patented Nov. 12, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEEI I f/lp W. T. HORMES.

DISPLAY RACK.

APPUCATION FILED JULY 11 I915- T 1,284,685. Patented MW. 12, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM T. HORMES, OF GOVANS, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR T0 SOLOMON HIMMEL, OF

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

DISPLAY-RACK.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Nov. 12, 1918.

Application filed July 1, 1915. Serial No. 37,545.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM T. HORMES, a citizen of the United States, residing at Govans, in the county of Baltimore and State of Maryland, have invented new and useful Improvements in Display-Racks, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is a device for displaying or exhibiting garments, although not limited tothis class of goods, and relates to that type of display devices wherein a rotatably mounted rack is employed for supporting the goods to be displayed, and normally in closed within a case or compartment. Such cases or compartments are usually constructed with glass walls or panels,-so that the goods on display may be readily seen by .prospective customers passing the same, and

at the same time be protected from dust and promiscuous handling. In view of thefact that economy offloor space demands that the area occupied by the case be as small as possible, it is usually customary to construct the case of oblong shape, with'the rack or supporting member conforming ;to this shape, being of a length greater than the width of the case. When it is desired to more, closely inspect the articles on display, and in order that the rear and front rods of the rack may be rendered readily accessible,

the rack is so mounted as to be moved to a point near the front of, the case, a sufiicient distance to permit the ends of the rack, to swing in front of the rear, wall or panel of the case. when the rack is rotated to reverse the positions of the rods. One of the objects of the invention is to provide a rack of this character, constructed to permit the garment supporting member to move in and out of the case or compartment for a predetermined distance, and to prevent rotation-of the rack until it reaches its forward posi- .tion. A further object'is to provide means l I I .been'moved to its forward position.

which will permit of readyreversal .of the garment supporting rods when the rack has The invention will be hereinafter fully set forth and particularly pointed out in the gclaims.

' In the accompanying'draw-ing:

improved display rack, the walls of the case or compartment being shown in section.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view illustrating the controlling member. a

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view of the guide channel.

Figs. 4 and 5 are diagrammatic views illustrating the operation of the invention.

Fig. 6 is a detail view illustrating a slight modfication.

Referring to the drawing, 10 designates a .case or compartment of any suitable or preferred construction, that illustrated be ing provided with glass panels forming the end and rear walls,-respectively, the front being closed by suitable movable sections 11 forming doors. The bottom 12 of the case or compartment, is providedwith a chan nel 13, .the upper edges of which are provided with guides 14, between which the carriage 15, is mounted to reciprocate. If

desired, the guides 14: and carriage 15, may be provided with complemental shoulders '16, arranged at the proper angle to receive with means for supporting the rods- 20,

which serve to support the garments, or other articles that may be desired. The

shaft 18, extends downwardly through the carriage 15 and is provided at'its lower end with a crank arm 21, to the free end of which is attached a depending pin or roller 22, said arm and roller serving as a controlling member to control the rotation of said shaft. The roller 22 of the controller member extends downwardly into a guide channel provided with a main portion run-' .ning-from front to rear of the case or compartment, parallel with the side walls 'of the channel 13, as indicated at 23, the forward end of said channel being provided lw'ithbranches 24- and 25' forming an ap-' proximately semicircular supplemental channel, the, walls; of which "are curved ou an arc struck from the axis of shaft 18, when the latter is in its extreme forward position, and upon a radius corresponding to the length of the arm 21. The guide channel is located upon the bottom of the channel 13 as shown.

In operation when the roller 22 is in alinement with the straight portion 23 of the channel, the carriage 15 may be reciprocated in its guides, toward and away from the rear wall of the case. Just as soon as said roller enters the channel 23, rotation of the shaft 18 is prevented for the reason that any force tending to rotate said shaft at that time, also tends to swing the arm 21 in an arc of a circle with the shaft 18 as the center. It is evident, however, that as the roller 22 on the end of the crank arm 21 is held by the channel 28, rotation of the rack is prevented. WVhen the carriage has been moved to its for ward position, the shaft 18 may be rotated by means of the rods 20, in the usual and well-known manner, with the result that the I arm 21 will swing the roller 22 into either of the branches 21 or 25, according to the direction of rotation, until said roller strikes the end of the branch, whereupon travel of the outer end of arm 21 is arrested. As rotative pressure on shaft 18 continues, roller r'oller 22 will 22 acts as a fulcrum, causing arm 21 to swing thereon and carry the shaft 18 inwardly parallel with the straight or main branch 23 of the guide, the parts successively moving from full line position to the several dotted line positions illustrated in Fig. 1, roller 22 continuing to act a traveling fulcrum, guidedbythe curved branch 2a or 25, as the case may be, until the shaft 18 has been rotated 180 degrees. This movement has placed said shaft somewhat back of its orig inal outermost position, and the rear garment rod will then be at the front so that the rack can be returned into the case without further rotative movement. When it is desired to again reverse the rack it is pulled to the front of the case or compartment and when the rotative force has been applied to the shaft 18, the roller 22, swinging into either of the branches 24: or 25, will partially reverse the positions of the hanging rods, and when the roller 22 strikes the end of the branch, continued rotative pressure applied to the shaft 18 will completely reverse the rack and at the same time the roller 22 acting as a fulcrum, will cause the carriage to move to the extreme forward position. The then be positioned ready for thereturn of the rack into the case.

In Fig. 6 is illustrated a slight modificanot, in which the guide channel 26 is pro- 'vided with but one branch 27. In this form of the invention, reversal of the rack is impossible except in one direction;

It will be understood that while the guide groove has been illustrated and described as located in the bottom of the channel 13, the invention is not limited to this specific location, except as determined by the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus explained the nature of my invention, and described an operative manner of constructing and using the same, although without attempting to set forth all of the forms in which it may be made, or all. of the forms of its use, what I claim is 1. An improvement in display racks co1nprising a rotatable rack member, a reciprocable support therefor, a crank arm attached at one end to said rack member, a main guide extending parallel with the line of reciprocation of said support and engaging the free end of said crank arm, said guide having a lateral branch curved i'nthe arc of a circle of a radius corresponding with the length of said crank arm, the free end of the crank arm being movable into said branch during a one hundred and eighty degree rotation of the rack member, said branch having an abutment at its outer end to arrest travel of the free end of the crank arm at the completion of approximately ninety degrees of rotation of the rack memher and so positioned that when force is ap' plied to said rack member to continue said rotation, the free end of the crank-arm becomes a traveling fulcrum cooperating with the branch to reciprocate the rack member in one direction, said crank arm and and branch being of a relative length to cause said reciprocation to withdraw the free end of the crank arm to the intersection "of the lateral branch with the main branch at the completion of said one hundred and eighty degrees rotation.

2. An improvement in display racks comprising a rotatable rack member, a recipro cable support therefor, a crank arm attached at oneen'd to said rack member, a main guide channel extending parallel with the line of reciprocation of said support and engaging the free end of said crank arm, said guide channel having at one end two branches eX- tending laterally therefrom and curved in the arc of a circle of a radius corresponding with the length of said, crank arm, said branches forming an approximately semicircular supplemental channel, the free end upon the direction of rotatiomeach bran-ch having an abutment at its outer'end to arr'est travel of the free end of the crank arm at the completion of approximately ninety degrees of rotation of the rack membei'an'd so ositioned that when force is applied to sai rack member to continue the rotation, the free end of the crank arm becomes a traveling fulcrum cooperating with the supplemental channel to reciprocate the rack member in one direction, said crank arm and each of said branches being of a relative length to cause said reciprocation to with draw the free end of the crank arm to the l0 intersection of the supplemental channel nesses.

WILLIAM T. HORMES. Witnesses:

MARGARET M. MEADE,

STEPHEN CAMPBELL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addrening the Commissioner 0! Estate, Washington, D. 0. 

